Strolling along Avenida de la Marina
It is wonderful in the evening to stroll along Avenida de la Marina, where the races will take place tomorrow.
Searching for a bar for an aperitiv is nearly impossible. All the people of La Coruna flows into this embankment which 115 years ago was still a landing place for fishing boats.
What memories of a time that no longer exists.
And we fall back to Maria Pita where we hope that fate will help us find where to feed ourselves with that delight of the Galician pulpo that we will recommend later.
In the meantime, enjoy this old photo of La Coruna that Dolores Rojas has found for us.
Could it be a good day?
A good day from Coruna can be seen in its best look from the windows of the Riazor Hotel
A flutter of seagulls at eight in the morning while someone is fishing and the undaunted worker smoothes the sand where later a swarm of swimmers will lie in the sun, it is said that yes. Certainly today will be a good sunny day.
But like any medal, this good day also has its downside.
Who knows what it will be like, especially for our good walkers, this afternoon, which is so sunny today?
The coffee
My first job as a young man was to taste coffee in a well-known factory in Trieste. Since then, waking up with coffee is a "must".
I wait in front of the breakfast room for someone to arrive. I get impatient and dial a number with my cell phone. On the other side, I hear a sleeping voice that replies badly that it is early and that she was still sleeping. But I say it's almost 8:30; hurry up.
While I'm waiting for Mara, Patrizio and "Occhi di Ghiaccio" come to the rescue.
What awaits us is not a "Breakfast at Tiffany's". It will never be: coffee is missing, which for a Triestino and a Neapolitan are like the morning blood flowing in the veins.
I persuade my friend to take those four steps that separate the corner of Avenida Buenos Aires from Plaza de Pontevedra. There is a nice bar that has been solving my morning problems of caffeine addiction for a lot of years.
The percebes
In case you didn't know, the percebes (pollicipes pollicipes) or if you prefer in Italian "foot of cornucopia" are the most expensive barnacles crustaceans in the world and they can be found attacking the rocks in the area. A delight.
With a group of friends we had already ordered some for the 3kg post-race dinner and at the Praza de Lugo fish market we will see what today March 28th will offer us.
"Occhi di Giaccio" is enchanted, Luca and another friend from China I meet have their mouths watering.
The Praza de Lugo fish market is a delight. We spend more than half an hour there.
The "pulpo a la gallega"
Although it is known that "no one is a stranger in La Coruna" it is equally true that one cannot leave these enchanting cities without having tasted the "pulpo a la gallega".
You find it everywhere. But with Cristina, Jordi and Luis the fixed point is the "Meson do Pulpo" in the Franja area near Maria Pita.
Dolores is not there today: she has to work to prepare for the afternoon races. Not bad we say: we will eat for Dolores too.
"Pulpo, pimiento" and frozen beer: what more do you want from life?
Local beauties pass in front of us. Strange thoughts grip us as we roll our eyes, but Cristina's glaring grim brings us back to reality. Let us be satisfied with the "pulpo" !
Shenjie and Kimberly
In just over a month it is the third time we have seen this clash.
They are two enchanting exponents of the beautiful walk that we would always like to see.
Kimberly tries again in every way. But the change of speed between six and seven kilometers (4:14 and 4:11) groove with will not be filled.
However, in our eyes there remains a beauty of the technical gesture that a few times we have seen: only Antonella, I venture, was missing.
The others look at me and say it is just like that.
I am a few meters after the finish to immortalize the winner.
Shenjie arrives smiling as usual and perhaps because of her fatigue or happiness she clings her arms around my neck.
Who knows if she will remember that red card from Erdos 2012 ? Tomorrow in the airport I will ask her.
Yes, unfortunately, she still remembers it: it is really true that women forgive, but they never forget.
Sergio Vazquez
He has recently arrived with his family and is stationed near the finish line.
I run to hug him.
I think we will have been hugged for more than a minute, happy to see each other again after more than 25 years.
The 35th edition of the men's race is about to start, but the speaker who introduces the athletes for a moment turns to Sergio and says that without his stubbornness and his vision, the Cantones probably would never have been born. Now they are a "Hertitage Legend of World Athletics" competition.
The thanks of the athletes to Sergio is a clap that repays him for having realized a dream like this.
Thanks Sergio
The honor of Italy
A handful of bold young people shows up to collect the race bibs.
On the other hand, there is not even a shadow of the girls who were registered, except for the very young Alexandrina Mihai who celebrated her 19th birthday here. She finished 20th at her second experience in a 20km in a month and was the first of U20 women at the finish line.
However it is to see this number of twenty-year-olds and a little further on competing in what is the temple of the march can only be pleasing.
Another thing is to talk about the results.
The best mark goes to Andrea Cosi who arrives 13th in 1:21:59 and shatters the personal best set in January in Pescara by almost 2 minutes. Mark 8+
We cannot say the same about Francesco Fortunato, author of a very interesting first part of the race. Between his personal best and today's result (1:21:28) there are 1:45 seconds too many. He cannot be satisfied. Mark 7